Dinner 2 of 3
by WorldOfTilt
Summary: Santana has spent months planning the special night when she is going to propose to Brittany. It's finally the day, but she just has to take care of a few important things first: like going on a safari at the party supply store, buying a doggie tuxedo, and calling Quinn Fabray.


A/N: Part 2! Thank you so much to everyone who read, reviewed, favorited, alerted, all that fun stuff. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Santana and Max were spending their Saturday together as they tended to do. The day was usually spent walking around the neighborhood, grocery shopping, and generally just spending time together. Because of their work schedules, Brittany is usually the one who picks up Max from school, takes him to his after-school activities, and gets to spend time with him during the week. If Santana is lucky, she makes it home before Max is in bed most weekdays. Because of this, their weekend outings have become something very special to both of them. They sometimes spend the day in a museum or at the movies during the colder months or just walking around running errands or playing in the park on nicer days.

Today was different. Today, Santana Lopez was on a mission. Santana was on a mission to do three things. First, she needed party supplies, hopefully with unicorns on them. Second, she needed a small dog tuxedo for Oscar. Third, she needed, well in all honestly, she needed Quinn Fabray. After checking her list for the fifth time, Santana still could not figure out which of those three things was the most ridiculous.

Santana and Max slowly entered the giant party supply store. Neither had ever ventured inside one of these stores before, although both were curious as to the wonders inside. Brittany was usually the party supply buyer for the household, certainly not Santana. "Ok Maxy, this is uncharted territory for both of us. Hold my hand. Do not let go and we should be in and out of here as quickly as possible." Santana held her hand out not stepping forward until she felt a little hand grasp hers.

Santana was pleasantly surprised to find somewhat helpful signs hanging from the ceiling. Although none specifically said 'Unicorn' she decided to start at 'Animals' figuring it was the best bet since she didn't see a sign labeled 'Mythical Creatures'. Once they was standing in the seemingly miles long aisle, Santana realized that the ceiling signs were the last bit of organization she would encounter for the rest of their time in the store. She hoped the 'Animals' aisle would at least be in alphabetical order, but she had no such luck. Instead Santana and Max found themselves standing between Giraffe covered party plates and Koala printed napkins.

"Ok, Max this might take a little longer than I anticipated." Santana sighed, staring at a large Monkey piñata.

"It's like a safari!" Max exclaimed pointing to a set of Tiger masks.

"It's totally like a Safari, buddy. In fact, let's pretend that it is," Santana smiled, starting to talk in a low British accent, like the one on the safari shows they sometimes watch Sunday mornings. "Now, we join Max and Santana as they slowly make their way through the dense, dangerous jungles of the Party Store. A very secluded section of Brooklyn, not many dare to enter. They find themselves in the midst of dangerous animals and mighty creatures. Let's join them as they try to find the elusive unicorn party supplies." Santana and Max started laughing, walking faster, pretending to duck dangerous obstacles and avoid angry animals.

"Watch out Mom, there's a lion coming towards us!" Max yelled pointing at an unnecessarily large cardboard cut out of a lion complete with fake fur mane.

"I'll save us!" Santana jumped forward, landing in a fighting stance, pretending to punch the lion in the nose.

"Yeah! You saved us!" Max exclaimed jumping up and down. "And look, that Lion was guarding the unicorns!" Max pointed, running up to the next display full of unicorn supplies.

"Oh thank goodness," Santana muttered under her breath. "Ok, we need plates, napkins, cups and whatever else you think mommy would like." Santana explained, filling her arms with unicorn covered paper goods. Once they were done at the party store, where they purchased everything with a unicorn or rainbow on it, they headed to their next destination: the fancy pet store a few blocks away.

"Ok, we need to get Oscar a fancy outfit to wear next week at the diner. I think mommy will really like that. She loves dressing up that poor dog." Santana shook her head fondly. "Hi, we're looking for a, well, a tuxedo for a small dog." Santana blushed while asking the sales associate in the store.

"Oh of course, we have a few options for you to select from!" The perky sales associate ushered Santana and Max towards the back of the store to view the selection of doggie formal wear.

"Thanks," Santana muttered while staring at the wall of options. "Uhh Max, which one do you think mommy would like the best for Oscar?" Santana asked not taking her eyes off the wall.

"I think she would like the purple one!" Max answered, pointing to a small, dark purple, silk tuxedo.

"Ok," Santana sighed. "The things I do for this woman," she laughed to herself. "Ok, we will take the dark purple one." Santana pointed towards the wall. "Does that include the bow tie collar?" Santana quietly asked staring at the floor shaking her head.

"It sure does!" The sale associate nodded, walking to the register.

"Ok Maxy, great job today. We got most of our chores done. The third one I need to do myself, I have to call an old friend of mine and mommy's." Santana explained while walking back to their house. "I'm going to hide everything in the closet in the office, ok? Remember, mommy can't know anything about this stuff." Santana explained to Max while opening the front door. Max ran over to Brittany who was in the living room reading as Santana went to the office to drop off their purchases.

"Hey baby, did you and mom have fun on your little adventure?" Brittany asked lifting Max onto her lap for a hug.

"We did! I can't tell you why, but we went on a safari! And mom saved us from a big angry lion!" Max explained jumping up and down on Brittany's lap.

"Well, that sounds like a lot of fun." Brittany laughed as Santana came back into the room, plopping herself down on the couch next to Brittany and Max.

"Hi beautiful," Santana turned to give Brittany a kiss.

"Hi San, Max was just telling me you took him on a safari," Brittany giggled.

"I sure did, we rocked that safari," Santana stated seriously, lifting her hand to fist bump Max, causing Brittany to laugh more.

"Ok, it's lunch time. I'm sure that safari really worked up your appetites," Brittany said, moving to get up off the couch with Max.

"You guys have lunch, I have some more errands I have to run." Santana got up, giving Brittany a sorry look before heading back out the door. She stopped at the bottom of their stoop, sitting on the final step and dialed her phone.

"Hey Q. I know, I know, it's been awhile. Sorry about that. Listen, I need to talk to you about something. Can you grab a coffee today? Great, I'll be by you in twenty. Thanks Q. Oh, leave the little one at home, this is an adult conversation. Fine, fine I'm sorry. Rachel, please leave Rachel at home. It's a secret and I don't want her blabbing to Brittany as usual. Thanks, bye." Santana hung up, laughing at herself on the way to the subway.

As much as Santana didn't want to admit it, she loved Quinn. Quinn was the only person Santana had really kept in touch with since High School. By extension Santana also kept in touch with Rachel and Puck, but mostly through Quinn. Quinn was already waiting for Santana, as Santana stepped out of the train station. She was leaning against the wall of the coffeehouse in a light blue dress, matching headband and over sized sunglasses. Santana knew she'd been spotted once she saw Quinn's signature eyebrow rise above the glasses frame.

"Hi Q," Santana said leaning in for a hug.

"Hey S. Rachel told me to say hello and that she is insulted that you would think she would betray your trust by informing Brittany of whatever secret you're about to tell me," Quinn smirked waiting for Santana's reply.

"Gosh Q, don't you ever get tired of hearing her talk all day long?" Santana shook her head and opened the door for Quinn.

"No, in fact I don't. She's right though, you know she wouldn't tell Britt anything if you asked her not to." Quinn informed Santana who was straining her neck to read the menu above the coffee bar.

"Yeah, yeah I know. But this is important. This is strictly an Unholy Trinity conversation, well minus Britt." Santana huffed, struggling to see over the very tall man in front of her.  
"Problem, S?" Quinn laughed.

"No, no problem. I'll just have a soy latte." Santana sighed.

Once they got their coffees and found a small table near the back, Santana started explaining why she needed to speak to Quinn. "So, I'm proposing to Brittany in a week." Santana said into her coffee.

"Oh my gosh! Santana, I am so happy for you!" Quinn got up, stepping around to Santana's side of the table giving her an awkward sitting hug. "Stand up you fool," Quinn said hitting her on the shoulder.

"Ow, fine." Santana said grabbing her shoulder. Santana stood, allowing Quinn to give her a strong hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Ok, ok. Enough. You had to get that kiss in there didn't you, Q?" Santana frowned wiping her cheek with a napkin.

"Santana, you are proposing to Brittany. You are going to ask the woman you have been in love with since the second you saw her over two decades ago to marry you. And both of you just happen to be my best friends in the whole world. I think I am allowed to give you a kiss on the cheek!" Quinn jumped up and down causing Santana to blush.

"Ok, ok. Sit down. People are starting to stare." Santana grabbed Quinn's arm, pulling her down.

Once seated again Quinn assaulted Santana with questions, "where are you proposing? Does Max know? Brittany has no idea? Does anyone else know? How are you going to propose? Do you have a ring yet? I really can't tell Rachel?" Quinn finished.

"The diner where Brittany and I reconnected, yes, no, no, I don't know, yes, absolutely not." Santana answered giving Quinn a dirty look.

"You are impossible sometimes." Quinn sighed. "Max is ok with this, is he excited?" Quinn asked finishing her coffee, silently asking Santana if she wanted another.  
"Yeah, same thing. Yes, he's very excited. Today he went with me to pick up some things. He asked me a few weeks ago if this meant he could call me mom now," Santana smiled. Quinn was partially standing up to go get more coffees, when she plopped back down.

"Wow. He asked if he could call you mom? What did you say?" Quinn asked seriously, momentarily forgetting about the coffee.

"I said yes, of course," Santana scoffed.

"That little boy loves you so much," Quinn laughed, "I mean who would have thought. Santana Lopez, completely whipped by not only Brittany but her own son," Quinn started belly laughing, knocking over her empty cup.

"Speaking of Max, he'll be really happy Rachel is coming to the wedding. He'll have someone his own size to play with." Santana gave Quinn a proud, yet dirty look.

"You just can't help yourself can you," Quinn shook her head at Santana.

"No, I really can't. I thought you were going to buy me another coffee." Santana crossed her arms.

"Fine, fine." Quinn said, "accidentally" kicking Santana on the way to the counter.

They finished catching up some more, Quinn beaming at the thought of her two best friends getting married. Quinn gave Santana an extra tight hug as they said goodbye and two kisses on the cheek. "One for Brittany," Quinn explained. Santana promised she would call Quinn after the proposal and they parted ways.

Santana arrived home to find Brittany lying on the couch reading a magazine. "Hey sexy, where's Max?" Santana asked while taking the magazine away from Brittany, straddling her.

"He's on a play date. He was getting bored hanging around here so he went over to play with the twins next door." Brittany explained running her hands up and down Santana's thighs. Santana leaned down to kiss Brittany.

"Mmm you taste like coffee," Brittany giggled leaning up for another kiss.

"And you taste like sex," Santana replied.

"Well, I am assuming you taste like coffee because you had some. I, however, did not have sex while you were gone." Brittany informed Santana.

"Well, let's fix that, shall we?" Santana gave Brittany a devilish grin before leaning down again.  
Another uneventful week passed; Santana had finalized everything with Ben and Erik at the diner. Quinn ended up being a helpful part of the plan when Santana realized she would need someone to keep Brittany busy while she set up and then to make sure Brittany got to the diner on time. Quinn ended up taking Brittany out shopping that afternoon with the excuse that she needed a new dress for the opening of Rachel's new show in a few weeks. With Brittany taken care of, and with Quinn's promise that Brittany would be at the diner at 6PM sharp, and in a new dress herself, Santana and Max were free to spend the afternoon setting up.

Ben and Erik were already there when Santana, Max, and Oscar arrived carrying bags of party supplies. Oscar was already dressed in his tuxedo, which took a bit of struggling on Santana's part but she finally got him to stop eating the bow tie. Once it was all done, he looked very cute and Santana was sure Brittany would love it. Max was dressed in the one suit he owned, as most little boys do, for weddings and the occasional Bar Mitzvah. He made Santana buy him a matching purple bow tie on her way home from work a few days ago, another detail she was sure Brittany would love. Santana was dressed in a small, almost obscenely tight fitting, purple dress accompanied by the necklace Brittany bought Santana on her last birthday. She was wearing her hair down in loose waves, Brittany's favorite.

Ben helped Santana put up rainbow colored streamers and set out the Unicorn table settings, while Max threw rainbow colored Unicorn confetti everywhere. Erik stayed in the kitchen preparing all of Brittany's favorite foods while every once in awhile throwing some bacon out to Oscar to keep him happy.

Santana was being uncharacteristically calm until about 5:45, when her nerves finally caught up to her and she lost it. "This isn't going to work! Brittany is going to hate all of this! Who proposes in a diner? Who proposes surrounded by paper unicorns?" Santana started sobbing into a unicorn napkin. "She's going to say nooooo," Santana whined into the napkin.

"Mom?" Max approached her carefully, having been privy to many a Santana breakdown. "Mom, I think this is the best idea ever. Mommy loves you, she loves me, she loves Oscar, she loves Unicorns, and she loves this place. Mommy would say yes to you even if you asked her while she was sitting in her ducky pajamas in the living room, watching TV." Max finished, climbing onto Santana's lap and wrapping his arms around her neck.

"You have your mother's smarts you know. You and Britt are the smartest people I know. You are right buddy, mommy is going to love this because you and I did it, right?" Santana sniffed and gave Max another hug. "I'm sorry, I just got really nervous. This is a big deal for me and I haven't really stopped to think about it. Thank you for showing me what really matters, just the three of us, no matter what." Santana smiled at Max and gave him a kiss on the nose.

"And Oscar," Max added.  
"And Oscar." Santana agreed. "Ok, it's almost 6. Quinn will be bringing Brittany over soon. Let's shut the lights. Ben, just keep on the dim lights and the small ones on the counter, ok?" Santana instructed, wanting to create a special atmosphere.

At 6 PM on the dot Santana could see Quinn and Brittany walking down the street from the front window she had been obsessively staring out of for ten minutes. True to Quinn's word, Brittany was dressed in a short dark green dress, which Santana noticed accentuated her killer legs, and a matching hair bow. Quinn kissed Brittany goodbye on the cheek and pointed to the front door of the diner.

Brittany opened the dark front door and stepped over the threshold. She couldn't make out much, but walked slowly over to the front counter, which was illuminated with small white lights. She stood there for a few seconds trying to figure out what was going on when she felt someone walk up behind her.

In her entire life Santana Lopez has never done anything gingerly. But here she is, gingerly walking up behind Brittany who is patiently standing at the counter of their favorite diner. Santana quietly strolls up behind Brittany and taps her on the shoulder. Brittany doesn't jump, but gracefully turns around with a confused look on her face.

"Oh hi, San. You scared me." Brittany exhaled.

"I'm sorry Britt. I didn't mean too." Santana said, feeling guilty.

"I know, but I always get scared when someone taps me on the shoulder." Brittany explained, leaning in for a kiss.

"Why is that Britt?" Santana returned the kiss, wrapping her arms around Brittany's waist.

"Because, Silly, I'm always scared it won't be you." Brittany explained leaning her head down to rest on Santana's shoulder.

"Oh." Was all Santana could get out; she closed her eyes and relished the feeling of Brittany holding her for a few seconds before Brittany looked up again.

"Why is it so empty in here San? I think it's closed, maybe we should go somewhere else." Brittany looked around, confused until she saw Max and Oscar sitting at a booth towards the back of the diner. "Hey, Max and Oscar are here." Brittany let go of Santana, but grabbed her hand while running over to the booth. "Is Oscar wearing a tuxedo? Oh my gosh, I love that. Look at how handsome my boys look! I love your bow tie Maxy," Brittany laughed giving Max a kiss on the head and Oscar a pat.

"Come here baby. Sit down and I'll explain everything." Santana ushered Brittany to sit in the booth, sideways, facing out.

"Are there unicorns on these plates?" Brittany asked with a giddy smile. "I love unicorns! Is this a late birthday party for me?" Brittany asked skeptically.

"No, it's not. But I'm glad you like the decorations. Max helped pick them out," Santana smiled at Max who had a very proud look on his face.

"You look really hot by the way, San." Brittany smiled running her hand up and down Santana's hip.

"Thank you. Let me tell you why I did all of this." Santana closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Brittany, I could not have imagined how drastically my life would change, for the better, when you and Max walked into this diner that rainy night over eight years ago. I was so stupid to let you go all those years ago and to never try and get you back. You were and are the best thing that has ever happened to me. You are the light of my life, you make me laugh and smile and you just make me so happy. You and Max are my family. I never knew I could love as big and as hard as I love you two." Santana started crying, she looked up into Brittany's tear rimmed eyes and continued. "When you walked into this diner that night, my life started again. You woke me up and pulled me from the darkness that was drowning me. You freed me. You made me whole again. You are a part of me and I was so lost without you. I have loved you for every second of every day since that first time I saw you, in the Cheerios locker room. I just knew." Santana paused, and got down on one knee in front of Brittany. She took Brittany's hands in her own and continued. "I know that we will never be apart again, but it would make me so happy to make our union legal now that New York has awarded us with that privilege. Brittany Susan Pierce, will you please allow me the honor of calling you my wife, will you marry me?" Santana reached into a small pocket hidden in her dress and pulled out the ring box. She opened it up and held it up for Brittany to see.

Brittany's face was streaked with tears, she nodded her head yes before managing to whisper out a soft "yes, yes I will." Santana's hands shook as she removed the ring from the box and placed it on Brittany's finger. Brittany finally snapped out of her shock and sprung forward into Santana's arms knocking them both on the ground. Brittany laughed through her tears, peppering Santana's face with kisses. Pretty soon Max and Oscar joined in on the celebration, Brittany grabbing Max and kissing him all over, while Oscar took the opportunity to give Santana some usually forbidden kisses. Once they all calmed down, Max took Oscar over to the counter to give his moms some alone time. Brittany and Santana got up and sat in the booth together.

"Who would have thought, this old booth changed our lives, twice," Santana laughed smoothing her hand over the warn vinyl.

"I can't believe you did all this San. It's perfect. It's exactly how I would want it to be." Brittany picked up a piece of Unicorn confetti, pressing it to her still wet cheeks where it stuck. She did the same to Santana who smiled at the gesture.

"I have dinner also, if you're hungry. Ben and Erik are in the back," Santana laughed pointing towards the kitchen, where Ben and Erik quickly pulled their heads back into the kitchen, having been caught eavesdropping.

"It's ok guys, we are ready for dinner!" Santana yelled out. Max and Oscar joined them in the booth, waiting for their dinner to be brought out.

Ben and Erik arrived with food and congratulations, Ben crying a bit. They ate and joked around for a short while. Ben brought out a cake that read 'congratulations' and they all celebrated with a piece. It was getting late, Max had fallen asleep in the booth, Oscar the same under the table. Brittany and Santana were holding each other, dancing to no music in particular.

"Britt, remember the first time he was laying down in that booth?" Santana had her head on Brittany's shoulder looking over at Max.

"That first night, you changed his diaper for the first time." Brittany reminisced. "That feels like it happened forever ago and just yesterday at the same time," Brittany nuzzled her nose into Santana's hair.

"I know baby, it does. Look at him. He's perfect." Santana sighed. "I'm so happy right now Britt, you make me so happy."

"You make me happy, San. I love you. We're getting married!" Brittany giggled into Santana's ear.

"Yeah, we are baby." Santana smiled.


End file.
